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Dec. 7, 2016, 1:55 AM GMT / Updated Dec. 7, 2016, 3:04 AM GMT

By Frank Thorp V

House Republicans Tuesday released a short-term spending bill to keep the government funded through April 28, 2017, a measure that needs to be passed before Friday, December 9th to avoid a government shutdown.

Included in the legislation is language that would allow Gen. James Mattis to bypass the requirement that a service member be retired for at least seven years before serving as secretary of defense.

President-elect Donald Trump last week announced his intention to name Mattis to head the Defense Department and made a more formal announcement Tuesday night at a rally in North Carolina, part of his "thank-you" tour in key battleground states.

Also of note in the House bill is $7 million in additional funding "for the purpose of providing reimbursement for the extraordinary law enforcement overtime costs directly and solely associated with protection of the President-elect incurred from November 9, 2016 until the inauguration of the president-elect as president."

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, had asked that the federal government reimburse the city $35 million to cover security costs for the president-elect as he lives there between now and the inauguration.

Frank Thorp V

Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.